Charlie Trotter autopsy inconclusive, more tests ordered

Former owner of premier restaurant helped push others to great success

An autopsy conducted today on Charlie Trotter was inconclusive and officials said they will conduct other tests to determine how the celebrated chef died.

The Cook County medical examiner's office said the additional tests will include a toxicology analysis, and the results could take six and eight weeks.

An ambulance was called to Trotter's home in the 1800 block of North Dayton Street around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday after Trotter's son Dylan found him unresponsive, according to a police report. Trotter was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The family told police that Trotter, 54, was taking medication for seizures, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He had flown to Jackson Hole, Wyo. against doctors' orders to address a culinary conference Sunday night, according to the police reports.

"He got on a plane this weekend and his son found him unresponsive this morning," they stated.

The son told police Trotter was on the couch, watching television, when he got home shortly before midnight Monday, according to the police report. The son said he woke the next day and saw his father still on the couch, unresponsive, the report said.

A memorial service for Charlie Trotter has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday at Fourth Presbyterian Church, according to his mother, Dona-Lee Trotter. The service will be open to the public, and chefs and other friends from Chicago and around the country are expected to attend.

Dona-Lee Trotter said her son will be cremated, with no separate funeral.

The self-taught chef opened Charlie Trotter’s restaurant on Armitage Avenue in 1987, and it quickly became the most talked-about restaurant in Chicago. He was named the country’s Outstanding Chef by the James Beard Foundation in 1999. In 2000, Wine Spectator magazine called Trotter’s the best restaurant in the nation.